1. Field of the Invention
A subject-matter of the present invention is the use of specific alkylpolyglycosides as emulsifying agents for the preparation of oil-in-water emulsions comprising inorganic fillers or pigments.
The invention finds application in particular in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical field.
2. Related Art
The formulation of fillers and pigments, in particular of inorganic fillers and pigments, in an emulsion is complex. This is because the presence of fillers or pigments introduces electrical charges into the emulsion which disrupt this emulsion. The latter is difficult to stabilize, often forcing the formulator to use a complex emulsifying system, one or more stabilizers for the aqueous phase, or a dispersing surfactant, to prevent reagglomeration of the fillers over time.
In the case of antisun emulsions, this reagglomeration of the fillers results in a low or unstable UV protecttion factor which decreases over time. In the case of makeup emulsions, reagglomeration of the fillers can also occur, resulting in poor homogeneity of the color in the emulsion itself or when it is applied to the skin. In both these cases, the reagglomeration of the fillers, if it is significant, detrimentally affects the texture of the emulsion, which, instead of appearing smooth and glossy, becomes dull and granular.
To overcome these difficulties, recourse is often had:                either to complex emulsifying systems, which are generally based on fatty chains with a length of 16 and 18 carbon atoms (saturated, unsaturated or branched);        or to complex manufacturing processes; for example, inorganic filters with a UV-inhibiting role are very often predispersed in the oil phase or in the water phase.        
The problem to be solved thus consists in having available oil-in-water emulsions, comprising inorganic fillers or pigments, which are easy to prepare and which are stable over time, that is to say in which the pigments or fillers do not reagglomerate.
It has now been discovered unexpectedly, and this is the basis of the invention, that an emulsifier based on an alkylpolyglycoside structure with a length of alkyl chain having from 6 to 12 carbon atoms makes it possible to readily formulate oil-in-water (hereinafter “O/W”) emulsions comprising inorganic fillers and/or pigments. This result is all the more surprising since short-chain surfactants are not supposed to exhibit good emulsifying properties. These emulsions exhibit an excellent dispersion of the fillers without it being necessary to add coemulsifier or dispersant and without it being useful either to apply specific manufacturing processes as described above. The dispersion obtained with the emulsifier according to the invention is furthermore stable over time, that is to say that, surprisingly, the emulsifier makes it possible, by itself alone, to prevent the reagglomeration of the fillers and/or pigments, including in fluid emulsions such as milks.